EU summons Israeli ambassador over settlement plan

The European Union has said it was summoning the Israeli ambassador over the government's plan to build thousands of new settler homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

A Jewish settler looks at a West bank settlement on the outskirts of JerusalemPhoto: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

3:53PM GMT 05 Dec 2012

"The Israeli ambassador has been summoned," said Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who last weekend urged Israel to annul a move to build 3,000 new settler homes as "an obstacle to peace".

The ambassador is to meet Ashton's deputy Pierre Vimont on Thursday, EU sources said. The spokeswoman said the ambassador had been invited "to set out the depth of our concerns".

Israel is facing a storm in Europe over the settlement plans, with several nations this week summoning Israeli envoys to protest the Jewish state's announcement it would move forward with construction in one of the most sensitive tracts of West Bank land near annexed east Jerusalem.

The Israeli move, which came after the Palestinians won the rank of a non-member observer state at the United Nations last week, also drew criticism from the Jewish state's closest ally, the United States.

Ashton's spokeswoman said her response this weekend underlined "her high level of concern about the proposed settlement expansion".